Tunisia
Imprisoned journalist receives early releasePosted Feb 26 2010
Editor of the Progressive Democratic Party opposition newspaper Al-Mawkif and news Web site Essabil Online was released from prison Feb. 12, one week before the originally scheduled date.
Zouhair Makhlouf had been in jail since just before Tunisia's presidential elections in October when he was charged for “publishing a damaging interview without consent,” according to the International Press Institute. A source Makhlouf had interviewed for a documentary on pollution in northeast Tunisia told police his image had been used without his permission. Fellow journalist and government critic Taoufik Ben Brik, who is now serving a two-year sentence, had received a six-month sentence just one week prior to Makhlouf's detention.
Local news outlets reported that Makhlouf's lawyer does not know the reason for his client's surprise release.